Uniform and service
Military moustaches, beard rules and regulation looks. 5 face guides on EveryFaceShape so far.
Armies have long regulated faces. Moustaches were once required, beards are banned in many forces today, and exceptions are made for faith. Military needs also shaped eyewear: the aviator was designed for pilots, and the handlebar moustache became an emblem of Second World War airmen. Uniform rules have often spread into civilian fashion.
Rules on facial hair
The British Army required soldiers to wear a moustache from the 1860s until 1916. Many armies now ban beards for most soldiers, partly so gas masks and breathing equipment seal against the skin, while permitting neat moustaches. Exceptions for faith are growing: the Indian Army has long allowed Sikh soldiers unshorn beards and turbans, and forces in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States now allow religious beards.
Pilots and moustaches
Bausch and Lomb designed aviator sunglasses for American military pilots, selling them to the public from 1937. Royal Air Force pilots of the Second World War grew large handlebar moustaches, and the Handlebar Club was founded in London in 1947. Moustache March, a US Air Force tradition, has airmen grow moustaches each March.
Famous uniform and service face guides
Still to be written: Facial hair in the military.
Further reading
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Aviator sunglasses: Paul Evans, CC BY 2.0, source
- Toothbrush moustache: Trailer screenshot, Public domain, source
- Moustache: VAZHAR, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Beard: @nazanin, CC0, source
- Handlebar moustache: unattributed, Public domain, source